Tuesday, 11 January 2011

Airfix USAAF Ground Crew

This is the first of three posts covering the ground crew figures I have for use in Megablitz games. With a game area that can sometimes run to a scale 200km long, airfields do sometimes appear on table. This gives us the excuse (and assuming we want aircraft to make more then one sortie, the need) to field ground crew figures.

This post will look at some (by by no means all) of the figures from the USAAF Ground Crew set. This was the second of the Airfix ground crew series to be launched - in 1974. Further posts will cover the RAF and Luftwaffe sets. For some lovely photos (not mine then) of the Airfix NATO Ground Crew set, have a look at Paul's Bods - http://paulsbods.blogspot.com/2011/01/airfix-nato-ground-crew.html

I painted these chaps a few years ago but have recently had to re-base them as the original plastic bases had warped into comical but not very useful shapes. They are based as pairs on 30x30mm bases and are seen here shamelessly posed on one of my airfields tending to a couple of P-38 squadrons.

No - your eyes do not deceive you. These are 20mm figures with 1/144 scale 'planes and 6mm buildings. This apparent heresy may begin to make more sense when you consider that in Megablitz 1km is represented by 4cm and that each of these P-38s is a squadron.

Pilots - to your 'planes!

Some last minute spannering before takeoff. As far as I can remember both P-38s are by F-Toys.

8 comments:

DonOne of the reasons I like 'Operational' level games is that they provide a use for all the weird s**t we all have - ground crews, bombers, heavy artillery, field kitchens etc. Some gamers need convincing, but I can tell I'm pushing at an open door in your case!

Thanks Paul and WestThe GC stands are used to 'repair' lost SPs suffered by aircraft units. I took liberties with the photos but there'd usually only be 1 or 2 GC stands at an airfield. Heavier aircraft need the services of GC with cranes etc. Can you see what's coming?

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I built my first plastic kit in about 1971 (an inevitable Airfix Spitfire IX), and can date my wargaming 'career' back to 1977 (aged 11) when in the company of my friends John and Lee I played a simple game with the Airfix (20mm) tanks we had accumulated. Soon a chance find of a couple of Don Featherstone books in the local library revealed that 'grown-ups' did this sort of thing too! I joined Wargame Developments in 1985 and have attended their annual Conference of Wargamers (COW) since 1990. I have also, together with Bob Cordery, been organising it for the past few years. My main interest has always been WW2, with a side order of various postwar conflicts. I also dabble in earlier periods. I am particularly interested in 'operational' level games.